The changes to the NCAA enforcement structure and process are part of a reform effort urged by NCAA President Mark Emmert at an August 2011 summit of college leaders. / Bob Donnan, US PRESSWIRE

by Nicole Auerbach and Dan Wolken, USA TODAY Sports

by Nicole Auerbach and Dan Wolken, USA TODAY Sports

The NCAA approved a new enforcement structure Tuesday that will dramatically change the way it punishes rules-breakers in college athletics.

The changes - which take effect Aug. 1, 2013 - mean coaches will be held more accountable for infractions that happen under their watch and could be penalized in a way that follows them if they change jobs.

It also will change the infractions system, establishing four levels of violations (ranging from "incidental issues" to "severe breach of conduct"), as opposed to the rigid "secondary" and "major" designations. The NCAA Division I Board of Directors also agreed to increase the size of the committee on infractions, which would allow less severe cases to be dealt with in smaller sub-groups to help avoid backlogs.

The overhaul is a result of a year-long effort from a 13-member group of presidents, athletics directors, commissioners and others.

The group had been working since NCAA President Mark Emmert called for sweeping reform in August 2011 amid some of the worst scandals in college athletics history.

"We have sought all along to remove the 'risk-reward' analysis that has tempted people - often because of the financial pressures to win at all costs - to break the rules in the hopes that either they won't be caught or that the consequences won't be very harsh if they do get caught," Emmert said in an NCAA statement released Tuesday.

Within the college athletics world, the most controversial change is that head coaches can now be penalized individually for violations committed by their assistants, unless they can prove they took preventive steps to acknowledge red flags or and educate their staff about how to deal with issues.

Coaches across the country, including Michigan State's Mark Dantonio, expressed some concern Tuesday over the idea they could be held responsible for actions of their staff members.

But according to Oregon State president Ed Ray, who chaired the working group that came up with the changes, that's a fundamental misunderstanding of the guidelines. Ray said head coaches won't be penalized for assistants who "go rogue" if they make a sensible effort to ensure their staff follows rules.

"If you do a good job up front explaining to coaches what you expect them to do if they're not sure about something, you're going to have a lot less to clean up later," Ray said. "It's like preventive medicine."

Another major change, Ray said, is that schools and coaches can be charged with different levels of violations within the same infractions case. If a coach changes jobs, any penalties incurred individually, such as suspensions or recruiting restrictions, would follow him to the new school.

"It's an effort to be more precise about who is ultimately responsible," Ray said.

The next piece of Emmert's reform agenda, which would complement the new penalty structure, is a streamlining of the NCAA rulebook. Wake Forest president Nathan Hatch said the first wave of those changes is being vetted currently among the membership and would likely be approved at the NCAA convention in January.

"I think the whole direction of the rules task force is going to try to simplify rules and try to make it less detailed in what you can do and not do, but on the core issues that involve integrity of the program, to make those sort of bold issues and have real consequences," Hatch said.

The NCAA said conduct breaches that occurred before Oct. 30, 2012, and are processed before Aug. 1, 2013, will be subject to the current process and penalties.